June 27, 2018 at 5:43 p.m.
'Golden Shovel' groundbreaking at Camp American Legion
Construction of a cabin for 'Families of The Fallen' expected to begin in September
'Golden Shovel' groundbreaking at Camp American Legion
There are several cabins at the camp, however this is to be a special cabin.
In an article published in the Feb. 23 edition of The Lakeland Times, Lesa and Dan Raimer told the story behind what will be known as the "Cabin for The Families of the Fallen," a place they wanted to establish for families who have lost a loved one while that person was in U.S. military service.
Their son, Matt, a U.S. Marine and a veteran of Afghanistan, was months from being discharged from the service when he died in January 2014 at the age of 25.
The cabin's construction is to be funded in part by the Raimers in partnership with the Wisconsin American Legion.
Dan Raimer, himself a veteran of service in the Marines Corps Reserve in the early 1980s, told The Lakeland Times the idea for the cabin came from Matt's sister, Amber.
"Matt always wanted a hunting cabin," he said. "Amber said maybe it would be a good idea to build a cabin in Matt's honor. Have a place for people to go and grieve. So, we kind of took off with that idea."
In addition to Matt in 2014, the Raimers previously lost a daughter, Laticia, in a 2006 car accident. She was 16.
"We want to keep Matt's and his little sister's memory going," Lesa said told The Times in February.
'Here we are'
The "Golden Shovel" ceremony, including the groundbreaking, was brief but poignant.
Don Grundy, director of Camp American Legion, opened with a few remarks, saying there are those projects in a person's life "that are monumental."
"They have a lot of impact and they have a lot of emotional ties," he said. "This is one of those projects."
Grundy said he was excited to see the project move forward and noted there was a time when, for one reason or another, it seemed it wouldn't happen.
"But we're here at the Golden Shovel event," he said. "It's been a long journey. I think it was about three years ago that Dan and Lesa started talking to folks here at camp, the state adjutant at the time and saying 'We'd like to build a cabin for the families of the fallen. We'd like to have a place for those families to heal, to be together and go through that process.'"
"Here we are," he continued. "This signifies something camp has never had before and that's a very special, private, quiet place ... for us to reflect and remember and pull those folks in our heart."
Grundy said the goal is to begin construction of the cabin in September so that it's ready for use next year.
"Emotional, sad, excited, glad, kind of scared," Lesa Raimer said when asked before the ceremony what it meant to have the project reach this point. "It's going back to when Matt died, a reminder that he's not here but happy to be able to do this for other people to have a place to come to."
Brian Jopek may be reached via email at [email protected]
Comments:
You must login to comment.